The Mystery of Snoozer
by Tortured Artist
Summary: Ever since they first found Snoozer, the Ham-Hams didn't know anything about him. With the help of a new friend, they unlock Snoozer's mysterious past and uncovered a struggle against the forces of evil.
1. The Arrival of Moonbeam

The Mystery of Snoozer

Chapter 1: The Arrival of Moonbeam

"Zuzuzuzu." said Hamtaro as he slept soundly in his cage until he was awoken by a knock on Laura's bedroom door.

"Laura, get up dear." said Marion, Laura's mother. Laura made no response as she continued to sleep in her bed. Marion opened the door and noticed her daughter sleeping in her bed. "Laura, you're supposed to be awake by now." Laura finally opened her eyes and said groggily, "But mom, it's the spring break. There is no need to get up so early."

"True," admitted Marion, "but you said that you would get up early so you can clean up for Jake's visit." This news snapped Laura out of her sleep.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." said Laura as she jumped out of bed. This also reminded Hamtaro of Jake's visit. Jake is Laura's cousin. He's two years younger than Laura and it had been three years since they have seen each other. Jake was going to spend much of his spring vacation here and Laura and her parents were going to clean up this morning. Hamtaro was rather thrilled about the visit since he had never seen Jake before but he has seen his picture. After a hasty breakfast, Laura began cleaning up the house preparing for Jake's arrival. There wasn't much left to clean since they did much of it last night but Marion tends to be a neat freak whenever guests are arriving.

At around nine o'clock, while the family prepared for Jake's arrival, not far away was an eight year old walking across the side walk looking for the address written on a sheet of paper which he held in his hand. He was some what exhausted by the weight of the suit cases and carrier he was carrying but he is stronger than he looks so he was capable of pressing onward. With a sigh of relief, he finally found the house he was looking for. He came to the house and knocked on the door. Marion Haruna answered the door.

"Oh Jake, I didn't expect you to arrive so soon." she said. Jake wore a white T-shirt and dark blue shorts. He had the same colored eyes and hair as Laura except his hair was shorter. Judging from the sweat from Jake's forehead, Marion realized that he must have lugged all that luggage by himself.

"Did you walk all the way here?" asked Marion.

"Yes aunt Marion, I walked all the way from the train station." said Jake.

"Why didn't you call us? We could have picked you up." said Marion

"I know but I didn't have any change for a phone call and after such a long train ride, I wanted to stretch my legs." said Jake. Laura came into the hallway, with Hamtaro on her shoulder, when she heard Jake's voice.

"Hey Jake. Long time no see." she said. Jake noticed the orange and white hamster that was on Laura's shoulder. He gave his suit cases to Marion but he didn't give her the carrier.

"Hey, is that Hamtaro?" asked Jake.

"Yep, that's him." said Laura. Jake stroked the hamster's head. Jake had never seen Laura's hamster and he was thrilled to meet him.

"You know Laura, I was so impressed by all those letters you wrote to me about Hamtaro that I also got a hamster too." said Jake. Jake lifted the carrier up to Laura's face. Laura looked down at the small hamster in the cage. "Her name is Moonbeam." Laura smiled in admiration for the hamster. Moonbeam was completely dark gray and she was the same height as Hamtaro. Moonbeam was sound asleep in her cage, however.

"Why don't you put her in the guest room where you will be sleeping." suggested Laura.

"Good idea Laura and why don't you and your parents take me on a tour of your town." said Jake. Jake, accompanied by Marion with the suit cases, went up stairs to the guest room to drop off Jake's luggage and Moonbeam. Laura went over to her room and placed Hamtaro in his cage.

"Now be a good little boy and stay in there while we show Jake around town." said Laura to Hamtaro. "See you this evening little guy." When Laura left, Hamtaro squeezed his way out of his cage and went to the window to watch Laura and family get into the car. Once Hamtaro was sure that they were gone, he ran over to the guest room to see Moonbeam.

The guest room didn't look like much and it was a part of the house that Hamtaro rarely gone to see. None the less, Hamtaro was capable of working his way through the obstacles in the room and locate Moonbeam's cage which is located on a night stand nearby. Once Hamtaro reached Moonbeam's cage, Moonbeam began to stir. She opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Hamtaro.

"Hello, you must be Hamtaro." said Moonbeam.

"Why yes, how did you know?" said Hamtaro.

"Jake has been talking about you a lot on the train ride over here."

"Oh. Well, our humans just left so why don't I show you around the neighborhood."

"I would like that." Moonbeam squeezed out of her cage and she followed Hamtaro through the hole in Laura's room and down the drain pipe. "Wheee." yelled Moonbeam as she slid down the pipe. The two flew out of the end of the pipe and they landed gently on something brown and furry.

"Morning Brandy." said Hamtaro. Brandy just yawned in response.

"Is he always this lazy?" asked Moonbeam.

"Pretty much but when he needs to run he sure can run." answered Hamtaro. The two went down the hole leading to the Clubhouse repeating "Ticky-Ticky" as they walked.

The two were surprised upon entering the Clubhouse when they discovered all the activity that was in the Clubhouse.

"What's going on?" asked Hamtaro.

"Where doing another clean up of the Clubhouse." said Pashmina as she sweeped the floor. "Oh, I see you brought a visitor." The Ham-Hams just stopped as they realized the visitor Hamtaro had brought. Before Hamtaro could introduce everyone to Moonbeam, Stan wasted no time in introducing himself in his usual way.

"Hello gorgeous, where have ya been all my life?" said Stan as he held Moonbeam's paws. "My name is Stan and what is yours beautiful." Moonbeam began to blush.

"My names Moonbeam." she said

"Well that's a pretty name." said Stan. "Maybe you could live up to your name and take a walk with me under a full moon. The only thing more beautiful than the stars and the moon would be you."

"Stop it, Stan, you're making me blush." said Moonbeam as she giggled over the idea of having such complements from a total stranger. Suddenly, a pink ribbon grabbed Stan by the tail like a whip and Sandy began to drag Stan away from Moonbeam as if he was caught by a lasso.

"Now that's enough, Stan." said Sandy. Stan just groaned.

"Well Moonbeam, what brings you to this town?" asked Howdy.

"My human is a cousin of Laura and me and my human have just come over here for a visit." said Moonbeam. "I'm going to be here for the majority of the week."

"Well sorry we had to be cleaning the Clubhouse today." said Howdy.

"Well, I won't mind helping." said Moonbeam.

"But what about the tour of town?' asked Hamtaro.

"Well, we can do that later, besides, this is a good way to get to know the Ham-Hams." said Moonbeam.

"Okay, you have a good point." said Hamtaro. The two began to pitch in and help with the clean up. Moonbeam began to pick up some loose pieces of hay that was around Snoozer. She thought it was strange that this ham-ham would be sleeping like this and not helping.

"Shouldn't we wake him up?" asked Moonbeam.

"Try as you might but he never wakes up." said Dexter.

"Never wakes up?" asked Moonbeam.

"Ya, he has been asleep since we first found him which is why we named him 'Snoozer." said Boss. Moonbeam just stared at Snoozer thinking to herself how familiar Snoozer's face looked. She didn't know why but some how, Snoozer's face looked familiar as if she had seen it in another point in the past. Moonbeam shrugged off the thought and went back to cleaning.


	2. Moonbeam's Gift

The Mystery of Snoozer

Chapter 2: Moonbeam's Gift

The Ham-Hams spent about an hour cleaning the Clubhouse and within that hour, Moonbeam had already gotten to know the names of the Ham-Hams within that hour of working. The Ham-Hams all sang as they cleaned.

"We are all together, on our way home. Walking on our way home." sang the Ham-Hams. Their songs were easy to follow so Moonbeam had no trouble singing along with the Ham-Hams. Every piece of furniture was moved outside so they could work the walls and floor. She was outside with the furniture accompanied by Pashmina, Penelope, Bijou, Hamtaro, Boss, Sandy, Maxwell, and Snoozer (asleep on a table as usual). They wanted to take a break from all the cleaning but unknown to them was the eight eyes that was watching them.

"So Moonbeam, where are you from?" asked Pashmina.

"I live in a city several miles away." said Moonbeam. "Jake's parents are computer programers for these toys called video games."

"Video games? What's a video game?" asked Boss.

"They're like television but you interact with the game using a set of controls and some kind of system to run it." explained Moonbeam.

"I don't know why anyone would want to spend so much time in front of the television." said Sandy.

"Me neither, I would prefer to read." said Maxwell. Hamtaro took a whiff of the air saying "Hif Hif" as he smelled the air.

"Hey guys, did you smell that?" asked Hamtaro. Everyone began to sniff the air.

"Ya, it smells like a cat." said Boss. The Ham-Hams heard a meow sound and screamed in terror as they noticed the four cats that surrounded them.

"Into the Clubhouse." ordered Boss. He picked up Snoozer and he and the other Ham-Hams ran towards the entrance saying "Badda-Badda" as they ran. Penelope tripped on a rock as she ran and fell flat on her face.

"Oh no, Penelope's down." said Pashmina once she was at the entrance.

"I'll get her." said Maxwell who was the closest to Penelope. He picked up Penelope and ran towards the entrance to the Clubhouse where everyone was waiting. The cats were too close, unfortunately, enabling a large orange cat to be able to lean over and bite down on Maxwell. Maxwell screamed in pain as he dropped Penelope in front of the entrance. As Pashmina dragged Penelope into the tunnel, the other Ham-Hams watched in horror as the cat sank its teeth into Maxwell's flesh causing blood to ooze from Maxwell's injuries.

"Aaahhh. Help me. Help...." Maxwell's cries for help was abruptly stopped when the cat bit down hard into Maxwell and with a sickening sound, Maxwell fell limp. The four cats walked away from the entrance with Maxwell hanging helplessly in its mouth.

"Oh no, Maxwell." screamed Sandy as Maxwell was taken away. Moonbeam, without hesitation, rushed out of the entrance. She stopped in front of the cats and said a magical incantation.

"_Eaze o_." said Moonbeam and from her paws, she fired what looked like a red bolt of lightening. The bolt striked the cat that held Maxwell causing it to drop Maxwell. The cats charged at Moonbeam at full speed. Moonbeam hesitated and did the only thing she could think of.

"_Sif_." said Moonbeam and suddenly, she leaped into the air high over the cats and right over them as they ran by. The cats stopped and turned towards Moonbeam. Moonbeam reacted quickly by saying, "_Eaze o la_." Four red lightening bolts shot from where Moonbeam was standing and struck all four of the cats. The cats were rather startled at this hamster's power and ran off to try to find some other pray.

Now that the coast was clear, the Ham-Hams ran towards Maxwell's body except for Pashmina who held Penelope where she was. They all gathered around Maxwell, horrified at the injuries he had sustained. Boss gently rolled Maxwell onto his back and everyone could see the bite marks clearly. They were certain that those injuries were deep and fatal. And what was worse was the fact that Maxwell just laid there showing no signs of life. Sandy was in tears.

"He's not d....d...." said Sandy while having difficulties saying the word "dead." Boss leaned over and felt for Maxwell's pulse on his neck.

"He's still alive but with all those injuries and all that blood he is losing, he wont be for long." said Boss morbidly.

"Everyone please stand aside." ordered Moonbeam. Everyone did as they were told. Moonbeam kneeled down next to Maxwell. She placed a paw on Maxwell and said, "_Rectom oo getta_." Both Maxwell and Moonbeam glowed with a blue aura as the spell began to take affect. Right before their eyes, Maxwell's injuries faded away and the blood that pooled around him also vanished. In just a few seconds, all traces of a cat attack had vanished. When the spell had ended, Maxwell opened his eyes groggily.

"What happened?" asked Maxwell when he realized that his injuries where gone.

"Maxwell." shouted Sandy with joy. She tackled Maxwell in a hug, relieved that Maxwell was okay.

"But how?" asked Boss as he turned to Moonbeam.

"Well, lets just all go to the Clubhouse and I will explain everything." said Moonbeam. As they walked back to the Clubhouse, a mysterious hamster wearing some kind of ninja garb watched them leave.

"So, Moonbeam is still alive then." said the hamster. He jumped down from the branch he was on and went to tell his master.

Down at the Clubhouse, the Ham-Hams were shocked about Maxwell's brush with death and about the cat attack after Hamtaro had told everyone about it.

"But how did Moonbeam do all that?" asked Panda.

"Easy, I'm a sorcerous." said Moonbeam.

"Really." chorused the Ham-Hams.

"Wow, how did you learn to do that?" asked Sandy.

"I don't know." admitted Moonbeam.

"Heke? How come?" asked Hamtaro.

"I honestly don't remember anything about my past." said Moonbeam. "I just remember waking up inside a pet shop and all I knew was a few spells and my name. I have no idea how I got there, who my family are, or even the name of the pet shop I was in."

"But how can some one forget that much about their past?" asked Boss.

"Clearly, Moonbeam suffers from a case of amnesia." said Maxwell.

"Heke?" chorused the Ham-Hams.

"Amnesia means a complete or partial loss of memory." said Maxwell.

"Is it treatable because I've been wanting to remember my past for so long." said Moonbeam.

"It depends on how it happened." answered Maxwell. "Some forms of amnesia are treatable but others can be permanent. I'll go home and see if I can find anything on the subject."

"Thank you, Maxwell." said Moonbeam.

"It's the least I can do and besides, you did save my life." said Maxwell. He picked up his blue book and left the Clubhouse. While he was gone, the Ham-Hams continued to clean the Clubhouse. They didn't know it but Snoozer's brain was thinking about this latest news about Moonbeam's amnesia. Snoozer silently hoped that she would get her memory back.


	3. A Look Into the Past

The Mystery of Snoozer

Chapter 3: A Look Into the Past

The Ham-Hams had finished cleaning the Clubhouse and all the furniture was in place.

"Wow, the Clubhouse looks great." said Moonbeam admiring their work. "So what are we going to do now?"

"How about we take you on that tour we promised." suggested Boss

"Okay but Hamtaro and I need to be home before noon." said Moonbeam. "Our humans will be home by then."

"Okay, lets take her to the park, then." said Boss. The Ham-Hams all went outside to show Moonbeam the park. Their tour of the park ended with a trip to the Ham-Ham Fun Park where Moonbeam couldn't help but try out all the rides. Moonbeam was thrilled about the park and was having the time of her life. The Ham-Hams all gathered near the roller coaster that Moonbeam was now on.

"That was amazing." said Moonbeam as she stepped off of the roller coaster once it stopped. "When did you guys build this park?"

"Actually, this is our second Ham-Ham Fun Park." said Hamtaro. "The first was destroyed by some bad weather so we built a new and better Ham-Ham Fun Park."

"You guys built this all by yourselves?" asked Moonbeam amazed.

"Yep." answered Hamtaro. The Ham-Hams all noticed Maxwell coming towards them.

"Hey Max, found anything on Moonbeams amnesia?" asked Boss.

"Nope, I'm afraid not." said Maxwell, his ears drooping a bit. "None of my books seem to have anything on treating amnesia."

"That's okay, Maxwell." said Moonbeam. "You did your best."

"Hey Moonbeam, want to try the tea cup ride?" asked Pashmina.

"I don't think so. Me and Hamtaro need to get home before our humans do." said Moonbeam. Judging the time from the sun in the sky, Hamtaro realized that it was almost time for him and Moonbeam to go.

"Moonbeam's right, we need to go." said Hamtaro. "Bye-Q everyone."

"Bye-Q." chorused the Ham-Hams as Moonbeam and Hamtaro headed strait for home.

That evening, Jake, Laura, and the rest of the family was sitting in the living room telling stories. Laura was finishing telling Jake about the first time Laura went to the beach in her new town.

"Although, what was odd was that dad said that he found me and Kana in the cave because my hat lead him to me." said Laura.

"That's wild." said Jake. Hamtaro and Moonbeam was also in the room listening to all the stories. Hamtaro silently giggled to himself thinking about that day. Actually, the reason why that hat was moving was because he and the other Ham-Ham were in the hat leading Forrest to Laura and Kana.

"But enough about us." said Laura. "Why don't you tell us what you have been up too."

"Nothing much." said Jake. "My life hasn't been any more interesting than yours."

"Well, why don't you tell us how you came across Moonbeam." asked Forrest. "And how did you come up with the name?"

"Well it's an interesting story." said Jake. "It all began little more than a year ago...."

Flash back begins.

Jake entered an old and dingy pet store that looked dirtier than the cages inside of it. Yet despite all the screeching and bellowing animals in this store, there was something about the old place that made Jake feel welcomed. It was then that the owner of the store came to the counter. He looked like a kindly old man with a bald head and some gray hair around the edges. His cloths was rather tight fitting and black and white in color, almost like a ratty old tux.

"How may I help you, young man?" asked the gentlemen.

"I'm looking for a pet." said Jake.

"Any particular pet that you had in mind?" asked the man.

"Well, I was thinking of getting a hamster." said Jake. The man eyed Jake suspiciously as if he was trying to see right through him. The man thought to himself and it looked like he came to a decision.

"Wait right here." he said. The man walked into the next room which Jake couldn't see into because the doorway was blocked off by a black blanket. The man emerged carrying a square object covered in a black tarp.

"This is the only hamster I have in the store but I can tell that this is the hamster for you." said the man. He pulled off the tarp and revealed the small dark gray hamster inside. The hamster was asleep but once the tarp was removed, the hamster opened its eyes and looked up at Jake. Jake was rather thrilled with this hamster.

"Aw, he's adorable." said Jake.

"Actually, this is a 'she." said the man.

"Oh." said Jake some what embarrassed.

"And her name is Moonbeam." continued the man.

"Moonbeam?" asked Jake.

"Yes, she is a special hamster." said the man. Jake didn't know what to think about this information so without another word, he paid for Moonbeam and now he had his hamster.

Flash back ends

"And I've had her ever since." said Jake.

"So why did you keep the name?" asked Forrest.

"Well, some how, the name fits her so I decided to stick with it." said Jake.

"What do you think that store owner meant when he said that Moonbeam was special?" asked Marion.

"I don't know and I don't really care." said Jake. Moonbeam crawled up onto Jake's shoulder. Jake nuzzled Moonbeam with his chin and said to her, "Isn't that right?" Moonbeam crawled down towards were Hamtaro was standing.

"So that's how you and Jake met." said Hamtaro.

"That's right." said Moonbeam. "I don't know how long I've been in that pet store. I awoke in that pet store with no memory of my past. I was only awake for three hours until Jake bought me."

"Did you think that you had always lived in that pet shop or were you brought there after you lost your memory?" asked Hamtaro.

"I don't know." admitted Moonbeam.

"This is a real mystery." thought Hamtaro. "Where could Moonbeam have come from? I just hope we can find out before she leaves."


	4. Jingle the Bard

The Mystery of Snoozer

Chapter 4: Jingle the Bard

The next day, the Ham-Hams all joined Moonbeam as they were about to continue the tour where they left off. They were in the park discussing where to take Moonbeam. Unbeknownst to the Ham-Hams, there were two dark figures following them.

"How about we take her to the city." suggested Oxnard.

"No lets try the docks." said Boss.

"How about we take her to the library." suggested Maxwell. Everyone looked at Maxwell skeptically. "What?"

"Well, why don't we let Moonbeam decide." said Hamtaro.

"Great idea." said Pashmina. "Moonbeam, where would you like to go?" Moonbeam thought to herself. She was about to answer when she heard some ruffling noises.

"Did you guys hear that?" asked Moonbeam.

"Hear what?" asked Sandy. Moonbeam heard the sound again.

"That." answered Moonbeam. Everyone began to listen, focusing on the strange noise. Without warning, two ninja hamsters came out of nowhere and kicked Hamtaro and Boss (the ones closeted to Moonbeam) and then grabbed Moonbeam by both arms. Both of the ninjas wore all black ninja outfits that covered up their entire entire bodies except their eyes and ears. Attached to their belts were oriental looking swords called a ninja-to. They also each had three shurikens and one had a chakram. (A/N: Info on all three of these weapons are at the bottom of this chapter.)

"_Eaz_...." began Moonbeam but one of the ninja hamsters kicked Moonbeam in the stomach interrupting the spell.

"Hey, let her go." demanded Hamtaro. One of the ninjas pulled out his ninja-to and pointed it at Hamtaro's throat. Everyone except Boss was frightened at the sight of the weapon since none of them had seen a real sword before.

"The first one to move gets their head cut off." threatened the ninja. Everyone froze, not sure what to do.

"I hear a cry and see a beautiful dress, I follow the cry and see a damsel in distress." said a familiar poetic voice.

No one, not even the ninjas, noticed that Jingle was nearby riding on his pet pig Herbert. Jingle was holding his guitar as always but he had an additional accessory with him. He wore a belt with a sheath attached to it and in the sheath was a sword. The Ham-Hams were rather surprised that he would have a sword. Jingle hopped off of Herbert with his usual cool and com look. The two ninjas stared at Jingle with curiosity and annoyance.

"Back off, this is none of your business." said one of the ninjas.

"Well, those are my friends your messing with and I don't take kindly to those who threaten my friends." said Jingle. The ninjas responded by throwing their shurikens at Jingle. But Jingle quickly plucked a few strings on his guitar and said, "_Eneevo_." The shurikens stopped in mid air and suddenly headed back to the ninjas who threw them. The ninjas were startled by this and they let go of Moonbeam so they can run away from the shurikens but surprisingly, the shurikens followed the ninjas at fast speeds until the two ninjas were impaled by their own shurikens. The ninjas pulled the shurikens out of their bodies but amazingly, they didn't bleed. Jingle began to play some more notes on his guitar and he began to sing some strange musical words.

"_Va yee ollayo dao gedlya_." sang Jingle. Suddenly, the grass that the ninjas were standing on began to grow at a rapid rate. The ninjas tried to cut their way out with their ninja-to but the grass was growing awfully fast. Jingle seized the opportunity by taking off his guitar and charged at the ninjas with his sword drawn. Jingle ran over to the first ninja. The ninja tried to cut Jingle with his ninja-to but Jingle was surprisingly skillful with the sword and not to mention that the grass was still wrapping the ninja like a mummy binding his legs and arms. While the ninja's ninja-to was being wrapped in the growing grass, Jingle seized the opportunity and rammed the sword through the ninja's heart. The ninja cried out in pain and then quickly disappeared into a puff of smoke. The other ninja had just managed to free his arm and reached for his chakram. The ninja threw the chakram at Jingle but Jingle saw the flying blade come towards him. In a true example of sharp reflexes, Jingle grabbed the chakram in mid air and with a good swing, he threw the chakram at the ninja. The chakram decapitated the ninja and the ninja disappeared into a puff of smoke. Jingle then walked over to his guitar and picked it up. He plucked another note on his guitar and said, "_Dif_." The growing grass that once bounded the ninjas shrank back to normal size.

Everyone was stunned at what they just witnessed. Jingle had single handily defeated these two ninjas.

"I know what you are." said Moonbeam breaking the silence. "You're a bard, aren't you?"

"Yep, my name is Jingle and this is Herbert." said Jingle indicating his pet pig.

"Ookwee." said Penelope in excitement when Herbert got closer.

"Oinky." replied Herbert.

"What's a bard?" asked Hamtaro.

"A bard is a musician who is capable of working the magic of music." said Jingle.

"So you can work magic, then." said Moonbeam.

"Yes I can. By the way, who are you?" asked Jingle.

"Oh, I'm Moonbeam the sorcerous." said Moonbeam.

"Nice to meet you." said Jingle.

"Hey wait a minute, if you can work magical spells, how come you never told us this before?" asked Boss.

"You never asked." said Jingle. Everyone but Moonbeam and Jingle fainted anime style.

"Who where those hams that attacked us?" asked Panda as he got up.

"Some kind of ninjas conjured by powerful sorcery." said Jingle. "Where they came from, I do not know, but when I saw them, I knew they were up to no good so I followed them."

"Well thanks for saving us." said Moonbeam.

"The pleasures all mine." said Jingle.

"Hey Jingle, why don't you come to the Clubhouse, I would love to hear more about your travels." said Moonbeam.

"But what about the tour of the town?" asked Hamtaro.

"Why don't I show her around town." said Jingle. "I've seen this town more often then you guys have and we can all ride on Herbert."

"Sure, why not." said Hamtaro. The Ham-Hams, Moonbeam, and Jingle all got onto Herbert and they were off onto a grand tour of the town. As Jingle had said, he was more knowledgeable about the town than the Ham-Hams and he was a wonderful tour guide.

After the tour was over, they all returned to the Clubhouse. Jingle placed his guitar onto the table and wiped his forehead. He took a cup of tea and drank from it because he had been talking all day and was rather thirsty. He heard the sound of snoring nearby and when he turned his head he was surprised to see Snoozer sleeping in his sock in a corner.

"Who is that?" asked Jingle.

"That's Snoozer." said Hamtaro. "Haven't you ever seen him before."

"No. Infact, I've only been in the Clubhouse about two or three times and I never stayed long." said Jingle. "Is he always asleep like that?"

"Yep, I've never seen him awake." said Hamtaro. Jingle was rather curious about Snoozer because he looks just like a ham-ham that he knew.

"Could it be him?" thought Jingle. Jingle went over to Snoozer and examined him. Upon closer inspection, Jingle realized that Snoozer looked a lot like a friend he knew. As Jingle walked around Snoozer, his foot bumped into something hard in the sock. Jingle was surprised by this so he reached down and felt the object inside. He immediately knew what it was that he was feeling. Without another word, Jingle pulled Snoozer out of the sock and began to search around inside the sock. Everyone noticed what Jingle was doing and were now focused on Jingle.

"Hey Jingle, what are you doing?" asked Boss. From within the sock, Jingle said, "I know this ham-ham and this proves it." From out of the sock, Jingle pulled out his head and the object he found.

"You mean that you found that in Snoozer's sock?" asked Boss.

"Yep." said Jingle. What Jingle had found was a long rod of some kind. it was made of wood but it wasn't a smooth design. The surface of the object was awfully lumpy and it was shaped more or less like a long cone. At the base of the cone was a large green diamond.

"I thought Snoozer looked familiar and this magic staff proves it." said Jingle.

"Magic staff?" asked Moonbeam.

"Yes." answered Jingle. "The one you call Snoozer is actually a sorcerer named Neteru."

"Snoozer, a sorcerer?" asked Hamtaro in amazement.

"Yep, and this is his staff." said Jingle. "A magic staff is unique to each ham and I recognized Neteru's staff instantly."

"Is Neteru always this sleepy?" asked Pashmina.

"Nope, in fact, I think he is under a sleeping spell." said Jingle.

"A sleeping spell?" chorused the ham-hams.

"Yes and if we all work together, I think we can cure him." said Jingle.

"Ya, lets help hem out." said Hamtaro. All the Ham-Hams cheered in agreement.

_Author's Note: Since I have some unusual Asian weapons in this story, I have provided you with a description of these weapons for your convenience_

_Ninja-to: As the name suggests, this is a weapon used by ninjas. It is a multipurpose short sword which some verities can double either as a blowgun, club, ladder rung, etc._

_Shurikens: Small star shaped weapons that can be thrown at their targets._

_Chakram: A large ring with a diameter of one foot (or one inch in hamster size). It can be thrown like a Frisbee and the sharp edges of the weapon can cut its target._

_Fun Fact: Bards really did exist but not in the way I described. Bards are traveling minstrels who existed during the Middle Ages. They traveled around Europe singing songs and telling stories and poetry to all who listen to them. They provided Europe with gossip and stories and the ways of the bard became an organization in itself. Although we don't see traveling bards now-adays, bards still exist and they still write songs, poetry, and stories. Every year, the bards gather at a festival in either north or south Wales (it alternates yearly). This festival is called Eisteddfod and it is a testament to the ways of the bard and it continues to this day._

_ Although I have never heard any myths involving bards casting spells, the concept was intruded by the game Dungeons and Dragons. Since Jingle was already a traveling minstrel, I figured that Jingle was a classical example of a medieval bard._


	5. The Return of Neteru

The Mystery of Snoozer

Chapter 5: The Return of Neteru

In a dark underground burrow, sat a dark and evil looking hamster. She sat there meditating when she heard the sound of her aid walking into the room. The aid was a small hamster covered in light orange fur that covered his entire body. The aid walked timidly towards the evil hamster which sat before him.

"Why do you disturb my meditation?" said the sinister looking creature.

"W-we have j-just received w-word th-that our n-ninjas had f-failed to capture M-Moonbeam." stuttered the aid fearing for his life.

"I know." said the evil hamster. Its voice sent chills down the aid's spine. "My divinations revealed that a bard named Jingle had defeated the ninjas I had summoned. While I was tracking down Jingle I also made another interesting discovery. Neteru is still alive." The aid just stood there shaking with fear.

"But how?" asked the aid.

"Even though Neteru is under my sleeping curse, Neteru had still been able to escape my clutches." said the evil hamster. "He had some how hidden himself in a place I would have never thought to look. No matter." The monstrous hamster lifted her staff into the air and said. "_Recdom locka milloca sonday ivena monka da lamea dea cao_." The stone at the end of the staff glowed an orange glow and from the staff, six ninja hamsters emerged, all armed with ninja-tos, shurikens, and chakrams.

"I wont you all to locate Moonbeam and bring her back to me alive." said the evil hamster. "Kill Neteru when you see him and don't hesitate to kill anyone who gets in your way." The ninjas all bowed down to her and then left the burrow to fulfill their orders.

After the Ham-Hams discovered the truth about Snoozer being a sorcerer named Neteru, the Ham-Hams, Jingle, and Moonbeam had been working to cure Snoozer. However, at the moment, only Jingle is working because before they can work on awaking Neteru, Jingle has to find out how. Jingle was currently digging through Maxwell's personal library located in a spare room at the Clubhouse. Jingle was searching through the tittles of all the books. Maxwell stood at the entrance into the library watching Jingle search through the books.

"Uh Jingle, I don't think you will be able to find anything about counter cursing sleep spells by searching though all my books." said Maxwell.

"You're right, unless I use a more faster method." said Jingle. He swung his guitar in front of himself and began to play a few notes. As he played the guitar, he sang a magical incantation, "_Haragu malala da a oh_." Suddenly, an eerie green light surrounded the books and Jingle. Jingle just stood there as if he was lost in deep thought. The glow stopped and Jingle reached for a book at the far corner of the shelf. The book was one that Maxwell rarely looks at. It was entitled "Magical Lore" and Maxwell forgot he had that book. Jingle brought the book out of the library and placed it on the table. He flipped through the pages of the book and located a section on the sleeping curse.

"Here it is." said Jingle. All the Ham-Hams gathered around Jingle as he read out loud the cure for the counter curse. "The counter curse for the the sleeping curse can only be performed by a specially made potion made out of salmon scales, the shredded petals of a buttercup, a piece of pure cotton, chalk dust, and all of it boiled in water for thirty minutes. Once the potion is cooked, a sorcerer must repeat the following incantation: _Leda da par da gee la da ulla gaw_."

"Where are we going to get boiling water?" asked Boss. "I can get water from the nearby river but I don't know how I am going to boil it."

"I could bring one of my pots here," said Cappy, "and if we start a fire, we could boil the water right outside."

"Oxnard and I can go to the docks and collect the salmon scales." said Boss. "Humans sell salmon on the docks."

"But the list mentions something about buttercup petals," said Hamtaro, "and I don't know what a buttercup looks like."

"I've seen pictures of buttercup's in books." said Maxwell. "I might be able to spot one."

"Good idea." said Hamtaro. "Laura's mom grows flowers where she works so me and Maxwell can go there and hopefully find a buttercup."

"Good, now where are we going to get the cotton?" said Jingle.

"My human, Noel, owns some old cotton shirts." said Stan

"Perfect, me and Stan can go to Noel's house and get the cotton." said Sandy.

"Great, now all that's left is some chalk." said Jingle.

"My human has chalk." said Howdy frustrated that he couldn't come up with a joke, for once.

"Okay, me and Howdy can go out and get the chalk." said Dexter.

"Okay, and the rest of us will stay here." said Jingle. The Ham-Hams all cheered and ran out the door to get the supplies they require.

Oxnard and Boss went to the docks to get the salmon scales they require. The day was fairly warm making the smell of fish even more pungent in the air. Both Oxnard and Boss knew where the fish were and all they had to do was find where they keep the salmon. "Ticky-Ticky" they repeated while walking on top of the glass that hovered over the fish. The two searched through the ice and fish filled baskets below, making sure that they were not too conspicuous incase a human sees them.

"Hif-hif." said Oxnard as he sniffed the air. "Hey Boss, do you know what salmon smells like?"

"No, fish tend to smell the same to me." said Boss.

"Then how are we going to tell if we had found the salmon?" asked Oxnard.

"All the fish are clearly marked by signs." said Boss pointing to all the signs above the fish. The two came across one sign that was marked "salmon."

"Hey Boss, what's sal-mon?" asked Oxnard.

"Oxnard, that's not sal-mon its salmon." said Boss.

"Really, then why is it spelt with an L?" asked Oxnard.

"I don't know but since we found the salmon we need, lets go get some." said Boss. Boss ran over to the edge of the glass and landed next to the basket full of salmon saying "Daplunk" when he landed. Oxnard landed next to him and walked over to the salmon.

"This ice is cold." complained Oxnard as he walked across the ice that the salmon lay on.

"Well then let me do all the work and get off the ice." said Boss. Oxnard did as he was told as Boss ripped off a shred of salmon scales with his teeth.

"Okay, I got the scales, now lets get out of here." said Boss. The two hamster scampered away as the owner of the shop noticed a tare on one of his salmon.

Meanwhile, Hamtaro and Maxwell were at Marion's classroom looking for buttercups. It wasn't easy finding the building Marion worked at since Hamtaro had never been there but with Maxwell's help, they managed to locate the building and Marion's classroom. Marion was in the middle of a class session right now making it harder to sneak in unnoticed. Marion teaches the art of flower arrangement so there is plenty of flowers in the green house Marion teaches her class. Right now, Marion was giving lectures to everyone so the flowers remained unattended. Hamtaro and Maxwell took the opportunity and was searching through all the flowers.

"Do you see any buttercups, Maxwell?" asked Hamtaro.

"Not yet." said Maxwell. Maxwell was searching through the forest of flowers until he noticed a group of flowers with yellow petals. Maxwell pulled out the blue book he was carrying and flipped through the pages. There, he found a picture of a buttercup and certainly enough, it was a match.

"Hamtaro, I found a buttercup." said Maxwell. Hamtaro rushed over to Maxwell with anticipation.

"Good work, Max." said Hamtaro as he ran over repeating "Badda-Badda" along the way. "So how are we going to get at the petals?"

"We could grab the one that fell off." said Maxwell as he pointed at the petal lying in the soil.

"Good eye, Maxwell." said Hamtaro.

"Now, if everyone would please accompany me to the flowers, we can begin my demonstration." said Marion at the other end of the classroom. Hamtaro and Maxwell watched as Marion and the rest of the class got up and walked towards the flower pots. Hamtaro and Maxwell panicked. Hamtaro quickly grabbed the petal and ran along side Maxwell repeating "Badda-Badda" as they ran. They managed to escape the flower pots before the class saw them but Marion cot a glimpse of Hamtaro running through the door that was open ajar. Marion shook her head thinking, "It couldn't have been him."

Bijou, Pashmina, Penelope, Cappy, Panda, Moonbeam, and Jingle were all outside the entrance to the Clubhouse. Cappy had returned with a yellow pot that wasn't hamster size. Jingle had already filled the pot with water and using his magic, he lit some twigs on fire and began to boil the water. Boss and Oxnard ran over carrying the salmon scales that they had collected.

"Welcome back, Boss." said Jingle. At that moment, Stan and Sandy showed up.

"Noel's going to have a huge hole in his shirt but we got the cotton." said Stan holding up the piece of torn cotton up. About a minute later, Howdy and Dexter came by holding a piece of chalk about one centimeter long.

"Yeeha, we got the chalk you wanted." said Howdy.

"Good, now all we have to do it grind it up and put it in the water." said Jingle.

"How are we going to do that?" asked Panda.

"I could use my shovel." suggested Boss.

"No need, Boss." said Jingle. Jingle took the chalk from Howdy and placed the chalk on the ground. Jingle plucked a note on his guitar and said, "_Vinia_." very quickly. Instantly, the spell reduced the chalk into dust. Boss sweat dropped.

The water in the pot had already begun to boil and Hamtaro and Maxwell had not arrived yet with the buttercup petal.

"What's taking them so long?" asked Moonbeam.

"Ya, the water would evaporate by the time those two show up." said Jingle. From out of the bushes, Maxwell and Hamtaro emerged running as fast as they could saying "Badda-Badda" along the way.

"Hey Ham-taco, where have you been?" said Jingle.

"Good grief, my name is Hamtaro not Ham-taco." snapped Hamtaro.

"Sorry we're late, we had some difficulties finding the right building." said Maxwell. Jingle took the petal and began to tare it to pieces with his teeth. He then took the petals, chalk dust, cotton, and salmon scales and placed it all in the boiling water. Since the water had to boil for thirty minutes, many of the Ham-Hams had gone inside to wait. Only Boss, Hamtaro, Cappy, and Jingle remained outside to make sure that the water was boiling properly. Once the thirty minutes had passed, Jingle took the pot off the fire and said, "Now that the water is done boiling, we just take this pot inside so Moonbeam can enchant it."

"Why can't you enchant the water?" asked Boss.

"The instructions specifically say that the potion must be enchanted by a sorcerer and Moonbeam is the only one here." said Jingle. "Cappy, will you please put out the fire for us."

"Sure thing." said Cappy. As the others went into the Clubhouse, Cappy was scooping up dirt and was putting out the fire. As he was doing this, Cappy noticed something black off in the distance. He recognized them as ninjas and they were heading this way. Cappy kicked the last bit of dirt onto the fire and ran towards the Clubhouse.

Moonbeam was inside sitting next to Neteru/Snoozer. She stared into Neteru's face and couldn't help but wonder where she had seen this hamster before. She looked at Neteru's staff which lay beside him. As she examined the wooden staff, she realized that the staff as well looked familiar. She couldn't help but wonder where had she seen this ham before. Jingle was nearby pouring the substance in a cup.

"Okay Moonbeam, come here." said Jingle. Moonbeam walked over to the mixture and examined it. "All you have to do is place both of your paws on both sides of this cup and say the incantation written in the book. Don't forget to concentrate." Moonbeam was about to place her hands on the cub when Cappy ran in frantically slamming the door.

"Everyone, barricade the door, there are ninjas coming." said Cappy. Everyone did as they were told and leaned against the door saying "Grooba" as they pressed against the door. Moments later, the ninjas had pressed against the door and was using all their might to force the door open. The Ham-Hams exerted all their strength but even though there was only six ninjas, the ninjas were slowly overpowering the combined strength and weight of the Ham-Hams. Moonbeam had to work fast. She placed her paws on the cup and said the incantation, "_Leda da par da gee la da ulla gaw_." The water began to glow a purple color and the water began to change from nothing but a filthy mess to a creamy purple substance. Moonbeam ran over to Neteru and hastily poured the potion down Neteru's throat. Neteru drank the concoction ignoring the fact that most of it was dripping down his face. Once the potion was ingested, Moonbeam waited anxiously for the potion to work. Suddenly, the door swung open and six ninja hams appeared, ninja-tos drawn and ready. Jingle drew out his sword ready to fight but he was no match for all six of those hamsters. Jingle tried to hold them as best he could but in no time at all, one of the ninjas snuck up behind him and his ninja-to was driven right through Jingle's back. Upon hearing Jingle's cry of pain, Neteru opened his eyes for the first time in a year. He quickly realized that Jingle was in trouble and he pulled himself out of his sock and grabbed his staff. He stood up and in a voice that was more clear and louder than his usual quiet and dreamy voice, he said, "_Gibbaba tang da_." Orange bolts of electricity fired from the emerald on Neteru's staff and they all struck the six ninjas tossing them to the walls. Jingle fell to the ground with the sword still in him. The ninjas quickly got to their feet and was charging towards Neteru.

"_Banka zoa_." said Neteru. All of the ninjas were lifted off the ground by telekinesis and suspended in the air.

"_Nethlek magana dag mi_." said Neteru and some green energy fired from the staff. The ninjas were surrounded by the energy and vanished. Remembering Jingle, Neteru ran over to the wounded Jingle who lay there on the Clubhouse floor bleeding. Neteru gently pulled the sword out of Jingle and said, "_Rectom oo getta_." Both Jingle and Neteru glowed blue and soon, Jingle's injury had vanished. Jingle looked at Neteru and said, "Neteru, you're awake at last."

"That I am, old buddy," said Neteru. "That I am."


	6. The Rising of the Dark Sorcerous

The Mystery of Snoozer

Chapter 6: The Rising of the Dark Sorceress

Everyone gathered around Neteru, amazed at how he destroyed those ninjas.

"Wow Neteru, that was amazing." said Hamtaro.

"It was nothing, Hamtaro." said Neteru modestly.

"You know my name?" said Hamtaro.

"I know all of your names." said Neteru. "Although I was asleep, I was still more or less aware of my surroundings." Neteru turned to Jingle and said, "It is great to see you again, old friend."

"It's great to see you too." said Jingle

"And Moonbeam," said Neteru turning to Moonbeam, "It is a wonderful sight that you should still be alive and well. I haven't seen you in so long." Moonbeam just stared blankly in response

"Have we met before?" asked Moonbeam. Neteru was rather surprised.

"It's me, Neteru." said Neteru. "I'm a good friend of your family. Don't you remember?" Moonbeam shook her head indicating "no." Neteru scratched his chin thinking to himself. He then came to a conclusion.

"It's just as I feared, that spell must have caused your memory losses." said Neteru.

"Spell?" said Moonbeam.

"Yes, I rogue spell had struck you and that is what caused your memory loss." said Neteru. "I maybe able to remove the magic that is suppressing your memories." Without another word, Neteru pointed the staff at Moonbeam. He then said an incantation: "Magorma dacya dun via." From the green gem on his staff, Moonbeam was struck by a yellow light that surrounded her. Moonbeam fell to her knees and clutched her head as if she had a head ache. The other Ham-Hams watched with concern as this took place.

Finally, the light faded. Moonbeam opened her eyes in astonishment. Neteru helped her to her feet and he said to her, "Do you remember now?" Tears began to well up in Moonbeam's eyes.

"Yes, I remember everything now." said Moonbeam. Moonbeam cried in Neteru's chest and Neteru just patted her back in comfort.

"What's wrong, Moonbeam?" asked Hamtaro.

"My family is dead." said Moonbeam. "I remember it all now." There was a string of gasps from all the Ham-Hams.

"Zat's terrible." said Bijou.

"I know how you feel, Moonbeam." said Sandy trying to comfort Moonbeam. "When I was separated from my brother, Stan, I felt completely alone and helpless."

"How did her family die?" asked Hamtaro.

"Perhaps I should explain the whole story." said Neteru. Everyone, including Neteru, sat down as Neteru began to tell the story. "Long ago, before life evolved on this planet, a powerful goddess named Neanna created a magical artifact called the Giga Stone. The Giga Stone has the power to control the planet and create life and with its power, Neanna created the planet and all the life forms within it. Neanna used the stone to influence and guide the evolution of all species. But when humans came, Neanna, for reasons only known to her, left Earth leaving behind the stone. However, the stone has the power to control the Earth to however the user commands. If dark forces ever possessed the stone, it could mean the extinction of all life. To protect the stone, she created a species who were as small as her and looked like her. She created a species she called Ham-Hams." There was a string of gasps from the Ham-Hams.

"You mean we were designed to look like Neanna?" asked Pashmina.

"Yes, all ham-hams are based off of her physical appearance." said Neteru. "She also gave us the gift of communication. She created our language and even the phrases we often say."

"Wow, that's amazing." said Panda.

"She gave the stone to the ham-hams and left it to them to guard the stone until Neanna returned." continued Neteru. "Over the centuries, the stone was past down to ham-ham to ham-ham. However, an evil spirit named Ulzogga wanted to use the stone to take over the world but some powerful ham-ham wizards had imprisoned Ulzogga in a magical amulet created by the ham-hams and Ulzogga had remained there since then."

"Well that's good." said Pashmina.

"Ookyoo." agreed Penelope.

"Unfortunately, it didn't contain her forever." said Neteru. "About a year ago, a sorcerous friend of mine named Mara had uncovered the artifact. Unaware of the evil within the thing, Mara attempted to tap into the power of the amulet but in the process, she unwillingly allowed Ulzogga to possess her body and mind. Mara's body is controlled like a puppet to Ulzogga and Ulzogga has been using Mara and her magic to find the Giga Stone."

"How terrible." said Bijou. "And your friend was never the same?"

"Yep." said Neteru. "Moonbeam's entire family was guarding the stone at the time. They were a family of sorcerers like Moonbeam was and I was a friend of the family. But Ulzogga discovered they had the stone and killed Moonbeam's family." There was a string of gasps from everyone. Hamtaro looked at Moonbeam and noticed there was a still a few tears in her eyes.

"Poor Moonbeam, no wonder she was so upset when she remembered her family." thought Hamtaro.

"Moonbeam would have died with her family and Ulzogga would have obtained the stone if I hadn't stepped in to help." said Neteru. "I saved the stone and Moonbeam but I knew that Ulzogga could use her rituals to sense the stone's location. I had to shield its magic. In a stroke of inventiveness, I put a spell on the stone so that the stone would merge within Moonbeam."

"What, you mean the stone is inside Moonbeam?" said Boss.

"That's right." said Neteru. "I would have put the stone in myself but I knew that putting it inside Moonbeam would be less obvious. However, once I put the stone in Moonbeam, one of Ulzogga's samurai had discovered us. He tried to cast a spell on use but I shot a reflect spell back at the samurai. The spells reverberated off of each other and struck Moonbeam knocking her unconscious. I killed the samurai and ran off carrying Moonbeam. I thought she was just conscious at the time. I had no idea she suffered memory loss. I took her to a pet store owner who had the gift to understand hamsters. He was the owner of a good hamster friend of mine named Tick. I explained to the pet shop owner about Moonbeam and agreed to make sure she is kept safe."

"So that is where Jake got Moonbeam, from that same pet store owner." thought Hamtaro.

"I knew that it would be too dangerous to remain in that pet store so I went back to my own home." said Neteru. "I didn't realize it but one of my seeds had a powerful sleeping curse on it. Ulzogga probably put that there as a trap. I ate the cursed seed and I fell asleep immediately. Luck was on my side when Tick came over and discovered my sleeping self on the floor before any of Ulzogga's henchmen found me. Tick realized that I was under a sleeping curse so he decided to take me to safety. He placed me in a sock to help conceal my identity and placed my magic staff inside. He carried me to Boss's Clubhouse and left me there."

"So Tick was the one who put you in the Clubhouse?" asked Boss.

"Yep. Why he put me there, I do not know." said Neteru.

"So Ulzogga is still out there after me?" asked Moonbeam.

"I'm afraid so." said Neteru. "She may have discovered me or discovered that you possess the stone."

"What are we going to do?" asked Boss.

"For now at least, the Clubhouse is no longer a safe place to be." said Neteru. "I recommend that everyone return home until this whole thing blows over. Boss, Jingle, do you two think you can find another place to stay at?"

"I'm sure we can find something." said Jingle.

"Good." said Neteru. "I'll go out and try and find out where Ulzogga is." The Ham-Hams all left the Clubhouse thinking about what they had just learned. Of-course, the same question ran through everyone's mind: Will the stone be taken by Ulzogga?

The next morning, Hamtaro was sleeping in his cage when he was awoken by a scream. Laura awoke as well wondering what was happening. She got out of bed and walked to the source of the scream. She discovered Jake searching frantically through all his things.

"What's wrong." asked Laura.

"Moonbeam is missing." said Jake.


	7. The Rescue

The Mystery of Snoozer

Chapter 7: The Rescue

"What!" said Hamtaro after hearing what Jake had said. Hamtaro had to see for himself if what he said was true. Hamtaro climbed out of his cage and quietly ran into the guest room saying "Ticky-Ticky" as he went. Upon entering the room, Hamtaro saw Laura and Jake searching frantically through all of Jake's things and all the furniture looking for Moonbeam.

"Moonbeam, where are you?" said Jake. While their backs were turned, Hamtaro climbed up the dresser and found Moonbeam's cage. The cage was completely empty. Hamtaro sniffed the air saying "Hif-Hif" as he did. He picked up the sent of Moonbeam easily but he also picked up the sent of at least three other ham-hams that Hamtaro had never met. However, the sent was slightly different as if there was some tainted quality of the ham-hams. Hamtaro knew that Moonbeam must have been kidnapped so he ran back into Laura's room and into the hole in the wall where Hamtaro always escaped saying "Badda Badda" as he ran. He slid down the drain pipe and shouted "Oopaa" as he flew out the end. He landed softly on Brandy's head.

"No time to talk, Brandy, I got to run." said Hamtaro. He ran off in search for some help but he didn't need to search for long. Neteru was already just on the side walk carrying his large wooden staff.

"Neteru." shouted Hamtaro.

"Heke?" said Neteru startled. "Hamtaro, what are you doing out here?"

"Moonbeam was kidnapped by those ninja hams." said Hamtaro.

"What?" said Neteru in shock. "I knew I should have stayed by her for protection."

"Do you know where they could have taken her?" asked Hamtaro.

"Yes." said Neteru. "It took me all night but my meditations revealed that Ulzogga is about five miles from here."

"Five miles!" said Hamtaro. "How are we going to get them?"

"I don't know." admitted Neteru. "They had all night to travel there so they have a good lead on us. If only we had some kind of transportation." Hamtaro thought to himself and then an idea came to him.

"I know, we can borrow Jingle's pet pig." said Hamtaro.

"Ya, Herbert can give us a ride." said Neteru. "Follow me, I know where they are." The two hamsters ran into hole in the ground to find Jingle.

Neteru and Hamtaro ran through the tunnels saying "Badda-Badda" as they ran. The tunnel Neteru was running through led to a secluded area in the park. It was some distance away from the Ham-Ham Fun Park and it was covered up by trees and shrubs. Neteru cupped his paws around his mouth and yelled out, "Boss, Jingle, where are you?" When there was no answer, the two hamsters continued to call out for Boss and Jingle as they searched. Soon, they got an answer.

"Guys, we're over here." said Jingle's voice from behind a bush. Neteru and Hamtaro walked through an opening in the bush and discovered Jingle and Boss eating acorns in front of a fire.

"Good morning, Hamtaro." said Jingle.

"My name is Ham-taco, I mean, Ham....Oh never mind." said Hamtaro. Jingle has been mispronouncing Hamtaro's name so much, it was starting to become a force of habit for Hamtaro to correct Jingle.

"Hey guys, what brings you here?" asked Boss before krmping on a sun flower seed.

"Moonbeam has been kidnapped." said Hamtaro. Boss spit out the seed he was eating in shock.

"What? Are you serious?" said Jingle standing up.

"Yes, she was taken by Ulzogga's ninjas." said Neteru. "We need to use Herbert to save her."

"No problem." said Jingle. He put on his guitar and began to play a song on it. As Jingle played the song, Hamtaro noticed that Boss had an ax with him. Hamtaro was a little surprised since he didn't know that Boss owned an ax. After about two minutes of listening to Jingle's guitar, they heard the sound of Herbert rummaging through the bushes. He came out from the pushes and walked over to Jingle.

"I trained Herbert to come to me whenever I play this song." said Jingle as he stopped playing the guitar. "All right, everyone hop aboard." The four ham-hams climbed onto Herbert's back. Jingle pulled out a piece of corn attached to a rod and string. He hung the corn like a fishing line in front of Herbert. Upon seeing the corn, Herbert had an uncontrollable urge to chase the corn. With a startling burst of speed, Herbert ran forwards in an attempt to catch the corn that was in front of him.

"Pig power, the only way to travel." said Jingle.

"But Jingle, Moonbeam is that way." said Neteru pointing backwards with his thumb indicating that they were going in the opposite direction.

"Hamgoof." said Jingle. "Not to fear though." Jingle swerved the corn to the left and Herbert made a sharp U-turn. It was so sharp that the Ham-Hams nearly fell off. But they held on as Herbert rocketed forward.

The four travelers rode the rambunctious pig for several miles without slowing down. But Herbert was starting to grow tired near the end and was slowing down.

"I'm afraid Herbert might need a rest." said Jingle. Jingle took the piece of corn off the line and threw it in front of Herbert. Herbert gleefully began eating the corn. The ham-hams jumped off of Herbert's back as he ate.

"How much further until we find Moonbeam?" asked Hamtaro to Neteru.

"My meditations revealed that Moonbeam is some where within a castle in this direction." said Neteru.

"You mean you don't know the exact location of where Moonbeam is?" asked Boss irritated.

"Uh, no." said Neteru creating an anime sweat drop. "All that my divinations revealed was that Moonbeam was in a castle, which direction she was, and that I would know I was there when I see a "Y" shaped branch."

"What can all that do for us?" demanded Boss.

"Never under estimate the power of divination." said Neteru.

"Oh great, just great." said Boss sarcastically. He walked away flinging the ax he was carrying over his shoulder.

Ignoring Boss's attitude, Neteru surveyed the area. He knew that his divinations wanted him to find a branch shaped like a "Y." There appeared to be none up in the trees. Neteru sat down trying to think when he realized he was sitting on a branch. He looked at the branch and to his astonishment, the branch was shaped like a perfect "Y." He looked at the branch wondering how it could show him where to go. He turned his head in the direction the branch was pointing and realized that it was pointing towards a clearing in the bushes which revealed a hidden stone structure up ahead. Excited, he ran over to the branches and pulled them apart. Before Neteru was a steep cliff that would have been small for a human but awfully large for a hamster. But down below and to the distance, Neteru could see a gray castle which must be where Moonbeam is.

"Hey guys, I found the castle where Moonbeam is." said Neteru. Hamtaro, Boss, and Jingle ran over to Neteru and saw the castle down below.

"But how are we going to get to it?" asked Hamtaro.

"Let me handle that one." said Jingle. He played a few notes on his guitar and he began to sing an incantation. "_Va yee ollayo dao gedlya_." Suddenly, some nearby vines began to grow towards the ground. They stopped growing upon touching the ground acting like a rope that our heroes can climb down. Jingle grabbed onto the vine first and began to shimmy down the vine followed by Hamtaro, Boss, and finally Neteru.

Once everyone was on the ground, Hamtaro asked, "Okay, so what do we do first?"

"First, you will need a weapon." said Neteru. He held up his staff and said, "_Bracka ba oonya._" There was a flash of green light from the gem on Neteru's staff and suddenly, a belt appeared on Hamtaro and attached to the belt was a sheath with a sword inside.

"That is a temporary sword." explained Neteru. "It will work for you for as long as the spell lasts." Hamtaro pulled out the sword from its sheath and held the blade in his paw. Hamtaro had never handled a real sword before. He had used toy swords before and he was not to bad with them but he wasn't sure of himself with a real one. His thoughts were interrupted when Neteru said another incantation. "_Brecka al oonie_." A green light appeared from Neteru's staff and suddenly, they were all dressed in brown cloaks. Neteru then said another incantation, "_Jif_" and suddenly, his staff vanished into thin air.

"Okay, here is the plan." said Neteru. The four Ham-Hams huddled around each other in a circle as Neteru explained the plan.

About thirty minutes later, Jingle, Boss, Hamtaro, and Neteru came out of hiding carrying three inch long packages wrapped in leaves. The plan was to sneak in saying they had brought food for the supplies. Of-course, the packages they carried did not contain food but small pebbles. The hood of the cloaks they wore would disguise their identities.

"Now before we approach, there is something you should know." said Neteru. "In addition to ninjas, there is also samurai. The samurai are worse than the ninjas because they are capable of summoning spells by using Ulzogga's power."

"So that is how the samurai can cast spells." said Jingle.

"Exactly so be on your guard." said Neteru. "Don't be skittish about killing any of them because they are merely creations of Ulzogga created through magic. They're not alive." They approached the samurai who guarded the gate. They were dressed in traditional samurai armor that was bright red and orange. On their belts were two sheaths. One sheath contained a sword with a right triangle shaped tip called a katana. In the other, it had a shorter version of the katana called a wakizashi. The two samurai glared at Neteru and the others suspiciously.

"We have come to bring food inside to stock up the supplies." said Neteru trying to disguise his voice. The two samurai did not question Neteru further but instead opened the gate and our heroes stepped in. Inside, they found many samurai and ninjas all around the place either on patrol or performing some other unknown errand. Neteru came over to one of the samurai and asked him, "Excuse me but do you know where the food storage is. We have some sun flower seeds here and we don't know where to put them."

"Go strait down that alley and at the other end, you should see a building marked food storage." said the samurai. Neteru and the others walked through the alley as instructed and at the other end of the alley, they saw Moonbeam.

Moonbeam lay on a table were her arms and legs were bound to it by some rope. She struggled against the rope desperate to free herself. They were about to help her when the same samurai they had asked for direction earlier appeared.

"Hey wait a minute, you don't look like the hamsters who bring our food." said the samurai.

"Oh, really." said Neteru pretending that it was a surprise to him. "I'm sorry, let me show you some ID." Neteru kicked the samurai in the face. He then said, "_Juf_", and his staff reappeared. He then said another incantation. "_Dagmar fuz du_." A red bolt of light struck the samurai and he vanished in a puff of smoke. Some nearby samurai had noticed the attack. The four heroes pulled off their cloaks and pulled out their weapons except for Jingle who only had is guitar out.

"_Gorma dita luk nuk_." said Neteru and from his staff, he fired at least six bolts of purple energy which struck down a few samurai but others had dodged that blast and was still coming towards them.

"_Hara ga ma_." sang Jingle and from his guitar, a cone of pure sonic energy fired at the samurai. The samurai covered their ears hoping to block out the horrible sound but the sound pierced through their armor causing them to vanish into thin air. One of the samurai had managed to get close so Boss and Hamtaro pulled out their weapons to fight the samurai. The samurai pulled out both his wakizashi and his katana in both hands and used them to block both Boss's and Hamtaro's attacks. With amazing ambidexterity, he easily over powered the unskilled Hamtaro and Boss with his swords. Boss took a good swing with his ax at the samurai's head but the samurai crossed both his wakizashi and katana in an "X" shape catching the ax. Hamtaro took this distraction to his advantage by stabbing the samurai with his sword but the weapon merely bounced off of his armor. The samurai pulled away his weapons and took a swing at Hamtaro. Hamtaro shouted out in pain as the blades of the samurai's swords cut into Hamtaro's arm.

"Hamtaro." said Boss in shock. He took a swing at the samurai with his ax but the samurai blocked the attack with his katana and then stabbed Boss in the abdomen with his wakizashi. Boss fell to his knees in pain. The samurai was about to stab both blades into Boss but before he did, Jingle threw his sword like a spear at the samurai and it went right through the samurai's face. The samurai immediately disappeared in a puff of smoke. Hamtaro walked over to Boss and asked, "Boss, are you all right?" Boss just groaned in pain in response. He was bleeding all over the ground.

As Hamtaro tried to slow down the bleeding, both Neteru and Jingle were holding the samurai and ninjas at bay with their magic. But the samurai was starting to use their own magic making it harder for Jingle and Neteru to fight them off because they must also reflect the spells. The samurai were quickly beginning to close in on our heroes until a voice cried out, "Stop." All at once, the samurai and ninjas stood their ground not moving from their positions. Neteru took this opportunity to cast a healing spell on Boss and Hamtaro.

"So Neteru, you have finally freed yourself from my sleeping spell." said a cold and evil feminine voice. "I should have known that through your power, you would over come that minor obstacle but your persistent resistance is all for nothing. Soon you and your friends shall parish." From the table where Moonbeam was tide up, a dark and evil looking hamster appeared. It was Ulzogga herself.

_Author's note: Divination is a type of magic where you gain information or an insight to the future, past, or present by contacting some kind of divine force such as deities or spirits. Sonic means anything that deals with sound._


	8. The Final Stand

The Mystery of Snoozer

Chapter 8: The Final Stand

_Author's Note: Since Ulzogga shares a body with Mara, I will be using the two names interchangeably._

They couldn't, technically, see Ulzogga since she was inside Mara's body. Mara was a tall hamster, about as tall as Oxnard but as thin as Maxwell. She had bright yellow fur all over her body but since she was under the control of Ulzogga, it made her facial features more dark and mysterious. Also, her normally black and glossy eyes were blood red. In her paws were a steel staff that was more thinner and pointer than Neteru's staff. Attached to the tip of the staff was a glass icosahedron which made small rainbows as the light reflected off of it.

"You never cease to amaze me with your foolishness." said Ulzogga in a cold an unearthly voice. "Hiding the stone within Moonbeam may have blocked its power from my senses but not from my divinations. It took me a year to find her but when she came close to my power, I knew she and the stone would be nearby. I sent one of my ninjas to find her and now I have her." Ulzogga walked over to Moonbeam stroking Moonbeam's fur on her belly.

"I'm glad you could come because I was about to perform the ritual that will extract the stone right out of Moonbeam." said Ulzogga. "A quick but painful death for her." Moonbeam shook with fright, helpless as she remained tied to the table. "Unless of-course, you wish to die before her."

"Leave her alone." said Hamtaro threateningly. Ulzogga directed Mara's cold red eyes towards Hamtaro. The feeling of her gaze caused a shiver to run down Hamtaro's spine.

"You must be Hamtaro." said Ulzogga. "Yes, my meditations also detected you as well."

"You wont get away with this." said Neteru.

"I don't see how you can stop me and my army of samurai." said Ulzogga. The samurai all drew out their weapons and held them like knives and forks as if they were ready for a Thanksgiving feast.

"Know any spells?" asked Neteru to Jingle.

"I know a spell that is powerful enough to put them in a daze." said Jingle. "But the spell is not powerful enough for all of them."

"Well, if it is power you need, then I can give it to you." said Neteru. "Prepare to cast the spell on the count of three. One. Two. Three." Neteru cast a spell while Jingle began to cast a spell with is guitar.

"_Dugmia dumba guddun su megdun_." said Neteru. At the exact same time, Jingle sang his incantation: "_Oolla iya alya mia_." The samurai charged at Neteru and Jingle as they were performing the spells, but they had finished their spells before the samurai could reach them. Once Neteru had finished his spell, a beam of green light fired from his staff and it surrounded Jingle's guitar. Neteru's spell enhanced Jingle's enabling it to pass to all the samurai and ninjas. All of the samurai and ninjas fell to the ground completely paralyzed. Jingle was capable of keeping the spell from harming his companions but even with Neteru's enhancement, Ulzogga was naturally immune since she was a spirit.

Ulzogga looked at all of her samurai lying on the ground paralyzed. Furious, she said, "You think that was very clever but your power is no match for mine. Lets see how well you can wheeled that staff." Ulzogga held up Mara's staff and suddenly, the glass icosahedron on top of it began to glow a yellow color.

"_Magna dorock_." said Ulzogga. There was a flash of yellow light and suddenly, the staff was replaced by a large metal sword that glowed yellow. Neteru held up his staff and said the same incantation. With a flash of green light, Neteru's staff changed into a green glowing sword.

"Ulzogga is too advanced in sword fighting for hand to hand combat." said Neteru to his friends. "Don't fight her unless it is at a distance." Without another word, Neteru charged at Ulzogga and she did the same. Their swords clashed in mid air creating a loud "ching" sound as the metal collided. With amazing agility, Ulzogga and Neteru battled it out in a battle of swords using moves which neither Boss, Hamtaro, Moonbeam, or Jingle had ever seen. It was obvious they were using magic since their movements were impossible by ham-ham standards. Perhaps the best way to describe the fight would be a fight from the movie "The Matrix" but at a some what slower speed but still uncannily fast. Both Neteru and Ulzogga battled it out with pure furry in their eyes as their weapons clashed on each other. So far, none of them had been hit but Neteru looked like he was beginning to tire.

"Jingle, isn't there something we can do?" asked Hamtaro.

"None that I can think of at the moment." said Jingle.

"But what about your magic?" asked Boss.

"A spell in this situation could be dangerous because I could accidentally hit Neteru or the magical energies they are emitting could alter the spell and kill both of them at once." said Jingle. "Besides, I don't know any spells that can help in this situation." Jingle began to rub his head saying "Kushi-Kushi" in embarrassment. Hamtaro looked at all the sleeping samurai and ninjas and suddenly, he was thunderstruck with an idea. Without a word, he ran towards the nearest ninja and picked up his chakram. Hamtaro held the ring shaped weapon and headed strait for Neteru and Ulzogga. Hamtaro hoped that once he got a chance, he could use it on Ulzogga possibly braking her concentration or something.

Suddenly, Neteru was kicked in the abdomen by Ulzogga and then his sword was knocked away. There was another kick and Neteru was on his back. Ulzogga put one foot on Neteru holding him down. Ulzogga raised the sword over Neteru's face preparing to stab him. Hamtaro, who was right behind Ulzogga, took this as a cue to throw the chakram.

"Prepare to join Moonbeam's family." said Ulzogga. But before she could deliver the fatal blow, Ulzogga was struck in the back by the chakram. Taken completely by surprise, Ulzogga shouted out in pain. Neteru took the opportunity by telekinetically drawing his sword towards his paw. He caught the sword and slashed at Ulzogga causing a long cut along Mara's front. With an amazing boost of strength, Neteru pushed Ulzogga off of him and then ran his sword through Mara's chest.

"_Deama dora do_." said Neteru. The spell forced Ulzogga out of Mara's body. Like smoking coming out of a chimney, Ulzogga emerged from Mara in the shape of black smoke. For the first time, they all saw Ulzogga in her true form. She looked like a triangle shaped creature made out of the black fog but her arms were clearly long and visible. She had an evil looking face that was feature less aside from a horrible grin on her face and burning red eyes. Before Ulzogga could react, Neteru leaped into the air and took a good stab at Ulzogga's chest with his sword. Ulzogga screamed in pain as the sword that was still in her chest glowed green and suddenly, with a monstrous scream, she exploded into a puff of smoke. All of the ninjas and samurai that Ulzogga had conjured also vanished as Ulzogga's magic was dispelled forever.

Neteru landed next to Mara as their staffs reverted back to their original form. Mara lay on her belly bleeding from her wounds and gasping for breath. Neteru kneeled down and placed both paws on her.

"_Rectom oo getta_." said Neteru and both him and Mara was surrounded by a blue aura. The wounds on Mara had completely vanished and her gasps had stopped. Once no longer in pain and bleeding, Mara got to her feet and picked up her staff. Now that she was no longer under the control of an evil spirit, she no longer had any evil presence or glowing red eyes. She was the way she had been before she was possessed.

"Are you all right?" asked Neteru. Instead of answering, Mara wrapped her arms around Neteru.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." said Mara with tears in her eyes. "I put you and everyone else in danger."

"Mara, it wasn't...." began Neteru.

"But it is my fault." interrupted Mara. "If I had listened to you and not tried to tamper with the amulet that held Ulzogga, those ham-hams that I killed would still be alive right now." Mara began to sob into Neteru's chest, crying over her guilt. Neteru gently pulled Mara away from him so he could look at her face.

"Now you listen to me, Mara." said Neteru gently. "The way I see it is you have two choices. One is that you could cry about your mistake and constantly feel guilty about it or you can try and make up for what you have done. There are still evil forces out there that would be after the Stone and together we will keep it away from them. But no matter what mistakes you have done, you are still my best friend and nothing is going to change that. For the first time in ages, a smile crossed Mara's face. She wrapped both of her arms around Neteru and said, "Thanks Neteru, you're the best friend a ham could ask for." The moment was so sweet that it brought a tear to Jingle and Hamtaro's eyes and it made Boss cry a flood of tears which came out like water fountains.

"Hello, can some one help me here." said Moonbeam irritable. She was still tied to the table. Boss ran over to Moonbeam and began to carefully cut her ropes with his ax. Hamtaro wanted to help cut the ropes but the sword he was carry had vanished. The spell that kept the sword at his side had worn off.

Once freed from the table, Moonbeam sat up.

"Are you all right?" asked Neteru.

"Ya, just a little sore around the wrist and ankles." said Moonbeam.

"We better go then." said Neteru. "Your owner is probably worried sick by now."

"Oh no." said Hamtaro. "Laura must have noticed that I had disappeared by now."

"Then we best move immediately." said Neteru. They all left the empty castle and ran over to Herbert where he was waiting. Neteru used his magic to conjure another ear of corn so Jingle can attach it to the end of his fishing rod. Upon seeing the corn again, Herbert ran at top speeds carrying the six hamsters home. Upon arriving, both Laura and Jake were relieved to see their hamsters again. As Moonbeam and Hamtaro stayed at home, Boss, Jingle, Neteru, and Mara went all over town telling the Ham-Hams about the good news. Thrilled that the danger was over, they all had a party at the Clubhouse to celebrate.

The next day, it was time for Moonbeam and Jake to go home. This time, Laura's parents were going to drive Jake to the train station. Jake placed Moonbeam on the middle seat of the van and after words, he was helping Marion put the rest of his things in the van. Neteru and Mara intended to go with Moonbeam so that they can make sure she is safe and train her so she can improve on her magic. All the other Ham-Hams stood inside the car seat to say "good bye" to their new friends.

"I'm going to miss you guys." said Hamtaro.

"Don't worry about it." said Neteru.

"We're only going to Moonbeam's home so that we can become familiar to both places." said Mara. "Once we have become familiar with Moonbeam's home, we would be able to use a teleportation spell to teleport between Moonbeam's home and the Clubhouse."

"Heke." said Hamtaro. "What's 'teleport?"

"Oh, you'll find out." said Neteru.

"Bye-Q everyone." said Moonbeam. "I will miss you all."

"Bye-Q, Moonbeam." chorused the Ham-Hams. The Ham-Hams realized that Jake was getting ready to get into the car so they jumped out. Neteru and Mara hid in the seats as Jake sat down next to Moonbeam.

"Bye Laura. Bye uncle Forest." said Jake.

"Bye Jake." said Laura. Jake closed the car door and Marion drove Jake, Moonbeam, Neteru, and Mara to the train station. All the Ham-Hams hid behind a bush waving "good bye" to their two new friends and one old friend that they just got to know for the first time. And thus ends the mystery of Snoozer.

**The End**

_Author's note: Want to see more of Neteru and Mara? Well, read the sequels to this story. This story is the first of a quadrilogy following the adventures of Neteru and the Ham-Hams and each story is filled with more adventure, fantasy, foes, and friends then the next. The stories are in the following order: Walk a Mile in Your Shoes, Journey to the Island of Halastia, and Temple of the Zodiac. All stories are currently on under the Hamtaro section._


End file.
